De Brabantse Pijl - La Flèche Brabançonne - Race Overview

2015 Paris-Nice stage winner Michael Matthews has repeated his 2014 efforts at De Brabantse Pijl, sprinting to second place in Belgium today.

Matthews won the sprint from a chase that fell agonisingly short of catching surviving breakaway rider Ben Hermans (BMC Racing) who won solo. BMC Racing teammate and last year’s winner ahead of Matthews, Philippe Gilbert, rounded out the podium.

ORICA-GreenEDGE worked hard throughout the day, shutting down an original break of three before Matthews was left to negotiate the final with the surviving peloton.

“We knew we had the favourite for the day,” sport director Laurenzo Lapage said. “So we had a meeting last night and decided to control the race.”